A special meeting is set for Wednesday, June 14, so the Las Lomitas Elementary School District governing board can once again vote on a replacement for Brian Ross after becoming aware of a state law that prohibits outgoing trustees from voting on their successors.
In an email to the community on Sunday, June 11, board President Jason Morimoto wrote that the board was made aware of concerns that it violated California Education Code Section 35178 when it appointed newcomer Laura Moon to the board.
"A member of the governing board of a school district who has tendered resignation with a deferred effective date pursuant to Section 5090 shall, until the effective date of the resignation, continue to have the right to exercise all powers of a member of the governing board, except that such member shall not have the right to vote for their successor in an action taken by the board to make a provisional appointment pursuant to Section 5091," according to the legislation.
Morimoto notes that while the vote was unanimous, he intends to have the board deliberate again on the provisional board trustee appointment at a special board meeting at 4 p.m. on June 14. Ross will not participate in the deliberations.
Ross announced in April he is stepping down from the board on June 30 because of a family move.
The board considered three other candidates: Portola Valley resident and district parent Susanna Chenette; Steve Mushero, a Menlo Park resident, tech executive and district parent; and Andrew Slater, a Menlo Park resident, teacher and district parent.
The board followed a similar process when it appointed the replacement for former board President Dana Nunn in October 2021.
Nunn resigned because she is moving outside of district boundaries last fall and was no longer be eligible to serve as a trustee, she said. She helped with, and voted in, the appointment process for her replacement. Four board members now serving ran unopposed in the 2022 election and were elected to the board in November 2022, so any appointments via Nunn are now a moot point, said district spokesperson Kelli Twomey.
Twomey said a Sequoia Union High School District board member alerted the district to the section of education code.
Comments
Registered user
Portola Valley: Ladera
on Jun 13, 2023 at 9:08 pm
Registered user
on Jun 13, 2023 at 9:08 pm
To clarify, the official motion for the LL Board vote for Moon was indeed unanimously approved, but the preceding straw poll conducted in open session (which, as I understand it, is typically done in order to have a unanimous vote for their incoming peer) was 3-2 in favor of Moon including the outgoing Board member’s vote for her. Without his vote, the straw poll was 2-2 - 2 for Moon and 2 for Chenette.